Shanna Gardner and Mario Fernandez Saldana appear in court for back-to-back hearings

Shanna Lee Gardner and husband co-defendant Mario Fernandez Saldana appeared in court the same day for the first time Friday in the murder plot of her ex, Jared Bridegan, who was ambushed after dropping off their children at her Jacksonville Beach home.

They are being tried together in the death penalty case. They are both facing multiple charges of taking part in an elaborate plot with 62-year-old Henry Arthur Tenon, who has pleaded guilty to being the triggerman who shot Bridegan on Feb. 16, 2022, when he was on his way back home to St. Augustine. Gardner and Bridegan had a bitter divorce with continued custody and other legal wranglings.

Friday they stood before the judge one at a time but not actually in the courtroom together. Gardner and her attorney Jose Baez were the first to address the judge. When Gardner was escorted out, Fernandez was brought in for his turn.

One of the latest developments is that Fernandez Saldana's legal team filed a lengthy motion asking for the 4th Circuit State Attorney's Office to be barred from prosecuting the case due to violating confidentiality.

Fernandez, 35, is represented by a team of attorneys Frank Tassone, Jesse Dreicer, James Hill and Shannon Day. Their motion accuses the assistant state attorneys of obtaining and distributing text messages, emails and voicemails from Fernandez's phone. His attorneys say that should be protected by attorney-client privilege.

The motion also alleges that "at least 66" privileged communications between Fernandez and his attorneys were uploaded into a shared portal called 'NextPoint' that 28 people had access to. According to the motion, "it is impossible for defense counsel to determine the scope and severity of the breach in confidentiality."

The 63-page motion also says the defense team for Fernandez has confirmed the counsel for Gardner, 36, downloaded privileged emails from this portal. It asks for the website where the materials are stored to be deactivated and reviewed again.

The materials include heavily redacted emails between Fernandez and his attorneys, which have the subject line "Confidential Information," examples of emails the attorneys say the prosecution read and distributed.

Email correspondence between the prosecution and defense shows the defense asked about having any privileged communication removed from Fernandez's cellphone, which was confiscated for evidence. The prosecution said they would have a "taint" officer go through the phone and delete anything that was privileged.

The state on Wednesday filed a 13-page response countering the objections. Prosecutors state the complaint is based upon a third-party vendor’s brief oversight that involved uploading a few emails and one text between thedefendant and his attorney.

"The prosecutor, once notified, observed the oversight quickly, and consistent with her ethical duties, contactedthe defense teams to alert them to the oversight and immediately disabled the platform to ensure none ofthe emails or the text were reviewed by anyone," according to the response. "No one from the prosecution team or the State Attorney’s Office reviewed any privileged emails or texts."

"The prosecutor’s actions in quickly correcting a third-party vendor’s oversight and shutting down the platform, which prevented dissemination of the emails and the text, while alerting the parties involved, was consistent with the professionalism that all Florida attorneys should strive to attain," the state said.

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The defense's motion to disqualify the State Attorney's Office is based on speculation, "an incorrect assertion that the prosecution team, law enforcement, or co-defendants accessed emails and a text that contained attorney-client communications," the response concluded.

Assistant State Attorney Christina Stifler also advised the court that she provided materials to the defense Friday over the matter.

Dreicer said he hasn't been able to review them and requested another court date to revisit the matter and discuss whether an independent or neutral magistrate should be involved.

Judge London Kite said she can conduct the review with particular stipulations or seek an independent party if attorneys still don't feel comfortable.

"Mr. Fernandez, you should know that this court takes the privilege that you have between your attorneys extremely seriously," she said. "That is a veil that can never be lifted until you decide. … The offer from this court is a layered approach to shield this court from any information I’m not entitled to. So the offer to your attorneys is for this court to refer just the in-camera review of the contested information slash documents."

She scheduled Dec. 11 for a hearing to determine how to proceed and also a Feb. 2 pretrial.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Husband and wife in Jared Bridegan murder appear in Jacksonville court